On paper, the outcome was no different than it had been four years previously. The USA, just as they did at the last World Cup in South Africa, won a single group game in Brazil, squeezing through to the last 16 before crashing out with an extra-time defeat. Even the 2-1 scoreline was the same.

And yet these were very different teams. The starting XI chosen by Jürgen Klinsmann to face Belgium on Tuesday contained just three players – Tim Howard, Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey – who had lined up against Ghana in 2010. Gone were the likes of Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit and, of course, Landon Donovan. In was a new wave of American talent: Fabian Johnson, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi.

The manager has done more than just freshen up the USA’s squad since taking charge in 2011. Right from the beginning, Klinsmann set out to transform the way in which his players trained and prepared – holding squad yoga sessions and leading them on gruelling pre-breakfast runs. Nutritionists and sports psychologists were hired, not only for senior players but the academy ones as well.

He spoke of transforming the mindset of the team. Too often in the past he had seen them play passively, reacting to opponents in a way that seemed to acknowledge inferiority. It was an approach that did not chime with his impressions of the national mindset. The USA has always been most comfortable setting the agenda, he argued, doing things on its own terms.

Not all of those ideas could immediately take hold. Some of them still might not fully have done. But the USA did go out of this tournament on their own terms. Despite being outmatched against Belgium, they always sought to maintain a positive attacking intent. “It’s a bummer for us ending on the losing side,” said Klinsmann. “But I think that we worked tremendously over the last couple of days. I found ways to introduce new, young players into our programme and develop the game on every front.”

There were certainly reasons for Americans to be encouraged. Besides the magnificent Tim Howard, one of the USA’s most impressive performers against Belgium was DeAndre Yedlin, the jet-heeled 20-year-old Seattle Sounders full-back who came off the bench to do an excellent job against Eden Hazard on the right-hand side.

With just one season of senior football to his name, Yedlin would appear to have a very bright future. And then there is the 19-year-old Julian Green, whose goal almost gave Klinsmann’s team a path back into the match.

But more than any young player’s emergence, what encouraged the US Soccer Federation (USSF) president, Sunil Gulati,about this tournament was the reception it received back home. Thegroup stage draw with Portugal was the most watched football game ever in the country, with an average of 24.7m viewers on ESPN and Univision – and may be surpassed once the figures for the Belgium game are released. Huge parties gathered to watch in NFL stadiums, further capturing the nation’s imagination.

Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone after Tuesday’s game, Gulati was asked why this performance should be considered as progress over 2010. “Because the country was paying attention,” he replied. “And I think we’re building on something.

“Listen, you’re not going to have progress every tournament,” he added. “Because otherwise whoever wins the World Cup’s got nowhere to go. Bob [Bradley] did a great job for us as manager, and Bruce [Arena] before that. Now Jürgen’s building on that. So it’s progress on the field and it’s especially progress in the number of people at home who were paying attention to it.”

Asked what the USSF could do to sustain the fan momentum, Gulati said: “We’re not going to have the same level of interest, obviously, tomorrow, or on July 14th than we did today. It’s pretty simple: once the US team is out, ESPN’s ratings will be a little bit different, there won’t be the same fan parties any more. And once the World Cup is over, we can’t translate all that interest into the domestic league. No one can.

“But I think we’ll see some bumps. DeAndre Yedlin’s going to be a hero when he gets back to Seattle. And a few other guys that did well here, too. All of those things, getting guys that are going to be more well-known. Some kids are going to get turned on to the game. Some people who are casual observers, too. Hopefully ESPN and Fox and Univision continue to promote the game like they have here.”